Time to enjoy it!
We’ve just had a very successful village open gardens weekend. Meeting so many fellow gardeners certainly makes all the hard work of the past months worthwhile. This is a biennial event so we can relax now and enjoy the garden ourselves for a while before we gear up for the next one. The strawberry bed is now producing some lovely fruit. We’ve enjoyed several bowlfuls and there are many more to come when they ripen. We’ve netted the bed to protect the fruits from blackbirds. However, netting doesn’t deter our springer spaniels. Both of our dogs have a taste for soft fruit: one nibbling under the edge of the netting, while the other wriggles right in and picks from the middle of the bed! I’ve just planted another batch of sweetcorn seeds because only a third of the first sowing germinated. French and runner beans have been direct sown and are now starting to grow. Unfortunately, the broad beans are covered in blackfly as are many other garden plants. We don’t use chemicals so we’re eagerly awaiting ladybirds to come and sort out the problem. There is a large elder bush in the boundary hedge which is covered in flowers this year. I’m picking as many as I can reach to turn into elderflower cordial. Many plants are now looking good. Some of the current favourites are white delphiniums, peach-coloured foxtail lilies, and philadelphus ‘Belle Etoile’. The old fashioned roses are flowering really well this year including ‘Tuscany Superb’, ‘Charles de Mills’ and ‘Felicite Perpetue’, with the tiny pink flowers of rose ‘Belvedere’ just opening. My current favourite peony is a single white-flowered variety which was incorrectly labelled as a double white. Consequently, I’ve no idea what variety it is!
Tales from a Country Garden 